Slight display problem with KM

Questions & Suggestions
1

I have a bunch of macros I use with Bitwig Studio. When a new version of Bitwig comes out, I always rename it with the version number eg. BWS 5.2b5. The problem is that the app display in the Available in these applications display, is chopping off the name at the first . rather than the final . before the app extension. @peternlewis any chance of having a look at this?

SCR-20240531-rwpz

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2

That seems like a pretty reasonable question. Maybe the KM Editor should compensate for that. But maybe there is a workaround. E.g., instead of using the period character, which is:

.
FULL STOP
Unicode: U+002E, UTF-8: 2E

you could use a different character which looks like a period but is not, perhaps:

∙
BULLET OPERATOR
Unicode: U+2219, UTF-8: E2 88 99

or maybe

⋅
DOT OPERATOR
Unicode: U+22C5, UTF-8: E2 8B 85

or maybe

・
KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT
Unicode: U+30FB, UTF-8: E3 83 BB

This way, if you used one of these characters, it would still look like a dot, but it would likely show up with the full name in KM macros.

3

It might be useful to include the MacOS version, since on my system (MacOS 13.6.7, KM 11.0.3) this works as expected.

2

1

Notes:

  1. If I remove the visible ".app" from the filename in the Finder, the result is the same.
  2. I don't own a copy of Bitwig Studio, so I renamed a copy of BetterZip (hence the file icon!).
  3. I have just realised that I still have a demo copy of Bitwig Studio in my Applications folder... So let's try selecting a renamed copy of that... Yes, the result is the same.

3

4

1 Like
4

Keyboard Maestro displays the Display Name of the application. In this case, the Display Name of the application is “BWS 5”.

5

It seems to me that one of the following is happening:

  • KM is actually displaying the filename (or part of it, in OP's case).
  • The display name is not read-only and is changed by renaming the file.

I would guess it's the second one.

From what I read from Apple documentation, the display name is set by the developer, and should be read-only. "BWS 5" is not the display name that Bitwig Studio.app is shipped with.

According to a "retired" document by Apple:

Display names should not be confused with the actual names of files, directories, and applications in the file system... You use display names only as read-only strings in your application’s user interface.

Using Filter clipboard with display name, I am told by KM that the display name of "Bitwig Studio.app" is "Bitwig Studio". If I rename the application file[1], both the action and the macro group setting reflect the new name.

Experimenting further, I am still unable to confirm truncation of the name when seen in KM. @carlcaulkett, did you reselect the application under "Available in these applications"? The entry will not update automatically upon renaming the application.

  1. The "demo copy" of Bitwig Studio that I haven't yet deleted is actually the latest version of the full application and is only a "demo copy" in that I didn't decide to buy a licence. So it isn't a case of a demo version versus a full version (although which version number we are each using may not be the same). ↩︎

6

Thanks for the reply! I absolutely reselected the BWS 5.2b5 file from the Finder-like dialog. You are absolutely correct that the original name of the app is Bitwig Studio.

My exact steps are:

  1. Expand the Available in these applications section.
  2. Hit the + icon.
  3. Select Other....
  4. Select BWS 5.2b5 from the Finder-like dialog...

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  1. Observe, with dismay, the truncated name...

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Also, I am using macOS 14.5 Sonoma...

1 Like
8

@kevinb Is this the old document you found?

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9

That's what I wondered. As I mentioned, I'm using MacOS 13.6.7, which is Ventura. I'm not saying that Sonoma is to blame, but... You always have to wonder.

Yes, that is what I linked to.

10

Incidentally I tried @Airy's trick of using a different unicode character but that had the side effect of changing the display of the app in Finder to a folder (fortunately reversible by changing it back to a .!)

11

Whenever an experiment returns an unexpected result, like your result here, my mind immediately files that into my memory as a possible tool or exploit for the future. Thanks for the surprising result. (I'm assuming you changed the first period, not the second. If you changed the second, then that's not a surprising result.)

12

Yes I did change the first period. Delighted to have been of service to you :wink:

13

That's really odd. Coupled with how the macro group setting shows your "BWS 5.2b5.app", it is as if ".2b5.app" were being treated as the file extender! But if that were the case, MacOS wouldn't recognise the package as a ".app" in the first place. Anyhow, It suggests an underlying issue that is not specific to KM.

I don't suppose toggling "Show all filename extensions" in the Finder settings gives any clues?

Could you perhaps enter the following in the Terminal, and copy and paste the result here?

ls -d /Applications/BWS5*
14

That was it! In combination with manually adding the .app extension to the file and switching on the option to show all filename extensions, that was enough to persuade KM to display the full name.

SCR-20240601-rarc

It's not such a hardship because I don't normally use Finder, preferring instead QSpace Pro which has its own independent settings.

If I was being churlish, I'd say that the KM behaviour is still slightly unexpected, but I've got a situation that works for me.

Thanks for your help everyone :smiley:

1 Like